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Patented Aug. 8, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

H. BRAEN.

BILL FILE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26. 1915.

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H. BRAEN.

BILL FlLE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26. 1915.

Patented Aug. 8, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

l A TTRNE Y H. BRAEN.

BILL FILE.

'APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26.1915.

Patented Aug. 8, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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HENRY BRAEN, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY.

BILL-FILE.

incassa.

Application filed February 26, 1915.

T0 all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY BRAEN, a citi-- zen of the United States, residing at Paterson, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bill-Files, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for filing papers, and the like, such as bills, and it contemplates certain improvements in such apparatus designed to promote convenience and facility in filing and having access to the contents thereof for various purposes, especially in the use of the appara tus for the particular purpose for which it has'been designed, z'. c., for the filing of accounts of customers of grocers and other tradesmen.

The invention consists, first, in a novel construction of a holder for hills or other papers; second, in a novel combination of a series of holders and a receptacle or case to contain them; third, in a novel means to releasably secure the holders in their case or equivalent; and, fourth, in a novel construction of a case or receptacle of a kind suitable to receive the holders or other articles.

In the accompanying drawings, in which the invention is fully illustrated, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of one form of the apparatus; Fig. 2 is a front elevation, partly in section, of what is shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional view* on the line m-fc of Fig. l Fig. l is an enlarged sectional detail of the forward. portion of the apparatus; Figs. 5, G and 7 show the several parts of one of the bill holders, and Figs. 7a and 7b are a fragmentary side elevation and a fragmentary sectional view of one of the holder members; Fig. 8 shows the parts of the holder in plan in assembled relation, the holder members being in the open position; Fig. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view of what appears in Fig. 8; Fig. l0 is a vertical sectional'view through a stack of four of the holders, all but one of the holders appearing in diagrammatic outline for the sake of clearness; Figs. 11 and l2 are a side and rear elevation of another form of the apparatus, Fig. 11 being partly in section; Fig. 13 is a fragmentary top plan view of this modified form; and, Figs. 14 and 15 are enlarged fragmentary views illustrating the holder locking means shown in Figs. 11 and 12.

Referring to Figs. 6 to 10, each holder for Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1916.

Serial No. 10,716.

the bills and other papers comprises a sheath and two holder members which are pivoted vtogether and are housed in said sheath, the

construction being such that when the holder members are withdrawn from the sheath to an extent which is preferably limited one of them is capable of being, and in the preferred construction is actually by elastic means, swung apart from the other, so as to expose the papers held between the members. The said sheath a. (Fig. is formed of a rectangular blank of sheet metal or other stiff sheet material having opposite sides thereof rebent to form guideways b and having centrally thereof and parallel with the guideways a channel c and at one end of the channel a recess Z and an upstanding stop e and at the rear end of the channel an aperture f formed with a restricted portion g extending to the adjacent or rear margin of the sheath, the aperture 7 and restricted portion g forming a key hole slot. The holder member it consists of a rectangular piece of stiff sheet material having opposite side portions thereof rebent to form grooves z' and corresponding external reinforcing flanges (Fig. l0) and upstanding to form lateral walls Near the forward edge of the member zA there is a finger hole 7s, and in the rearward edge .are a recess Z and a depending stop m, the hole, recess and stop being in the center line of the holder member. A loop-shaped spring clip n is suitably attached to the rear portion of the holder member L and upstands therefrom (Figs. 6, 8 and 9), having its free end bent forward slightly (Fig. 9). In the walls j of the holder member z, near the back thereof are eyes o. be formed at the forward edge of the holder member hi. The holder member (j consists of a rectangular piece of stiff sheet material having a finger recess r formed at one end thereof and the edge thereof at the opposite end rebcnt or rolled, the portion of said piece which includes said edge being somewhat wider than the body of the member, in consequence of which the rolling of the material forms trunnions s (Figs. 7a and 7b). The edge of the piece in which the recess r is formed and the two side edges are bent upward to produce the walls t t z? (Fig. 8).

The parts a., t and g are assembled as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. That is, the trunnions `e of the member g are fitted into the eyes o of the vmember it. Upon member Q An upstanding abutment 72 may lward edge of the sheath.

being then folded down upon member 71, against the tension of the spring clip n said members are introduced into the sheath at the rear end thereof. When properly housed therein the forward edge of the member L is approximately coincident with the for- Upon grasping the member L at the abutment 29 and drawing forward thereon the stop m will abut the stop e and limit such forward movement, and at or near the limit of the forward movement the member Q will clear the sheath and the spring clip n will swing it to the open position (Figs. S and 9), the member la being rigidly supported in the sheath because the part thereof beyond the pivot s with reference to the operator constitutes an extension, reinforced by the walls j, fitting the sheath. In this position, the clip n holds the bills or other papers u secured in the member Q, it being remarked that its free end is bent off slightly as aforesaid, to facilitate inserting and removing the bills. lt will be understood that the bills in this case are copies of those which the merchant has given to the customer to whom the particular holder appertains, and that the ledger account of this customer may be preserved on the sheet Q1 which is kept in the member 7L., its side 'edges fitting in the grooves e' thereof. ln the closed position of the holder members, the member g extends short of the forward edge of the member 7L and exposes the corresponding edge portion of the sheet e', and on this edge portion may be inscribed the name of the customer to whom the holder appertains (Fig. 8). The opening 7c is designed to facilitate removal of the sheet v from the holder member it.

Referring, now, to Figs. 1 to 4l, a case or cabinet is shown having a back wall w, a bottom wall w, two side walls g/ and a top wall e, the front edge of the side walls sloping forward; a partition 2 extends horizontally across the cabinet and part way back, being spaced from the bottom wall fr a distance suflicient to accommodate a drawer 3. rlhe holders, one of which is above described, are arranged in the cabinet in as many stacks (Fig. 2) as its. width is designed to accommodate, the holders being arranged in stepped relation in each stack so that the customers name inscribed on the sheet v will be exposed. A rod 4L, slanting at the same angle as the forward edges of the sides y of the cabinet, is journaled in the top wall .e and in a bracket 5 on the partition 2, being received by the key hole slots in the sheaths of the holders and serving to limit and thereby gage their backward movement so that when they all abut against the rod their stepped arrangement will be uniform. The thickness of the rod is less than the portions g of the key hole slots, but its width is greater; when it stands in the position sh own in Fig. 5, therefore, each holder may be removed, but when it stands in the position shown in Fig. 8 the sheaths of the holders are held against removal, allowing the pair of holder members to be drawn forward relatively to the limit afforded by engagement of the stop m with stop e and so as to cause the contents of the holder member to be exposed in the way explained. The several rods 4 have cranks 6 which are connected by the link 7 having a fork 8 in which engages a pin 9 on a lever 10 that is pivoted at 11 to the under side of the case andv projects at the front (Figs. 1 and Upon turning the lever it will be observed that all therods 4 are rotated to lock or unlock the holders in the various stacks.

It will be noted on reference to Fig. 10 that the bottom of each sheath a rests on the rebent sides Z) of the sheath beneath, the channel forming portion thereof depending between said rebent sides and thus having the necessary clearance; to obtain the same result for the lowermost sheet in each stack I provide on the partition 2 the spaced lining strips 12 (Figs. 2 and 4,).

'lhe cover for the open front side of the case or cabinet comprises two sections 13 and 14 hinged together at 15. The area of the section 13 is about equal to that of the top wall e. It is connected to the side walls of the cabinet by two pairs of pivoted links 16 and 17. Said links are of approximately the same length-that is, one-half the front to rear dimension of the top Wall e. lThe links 16 are pivoted to the side walls near the top thereof and midway between their front and rear edges, and to the cover section 13 near its rear edge; the links 17 ment is such that the section 14 may be folded back upon the section 18 from the position shown in Fig. 1 and then the two sections swung back on the links 16-17 so as to bring the section 13 resting fiat against the top `wall e of the case. The cover sections are flanged at their' edges, as shown, and when in the closed position the flange of the section la obstructs the removal of the drawer 3.

The apparatus shown in Figs. 11 to 15 is substantially the same as that already described excepting as to the means for locking the holders in place. (These figures show that the apparatus may be set upon what is its back wall in Figs. 1 to t, if desired, so that the entering and withdrawing movements of the holders are vertical instead of horizontal). rllhe locking rod in this case is in the form of two leaves 18 pivoted together on a spindle 19 and foldableA against the tension of a spring 20 coiled about the spindle and having its ends bearing against the leaves, said spindle being mounted at its ends in the wall e and a. bracket attachedl to the wall x of the cabinet. Parallel bars 21 are pivotally connected to the ends of parallel links 22 pivoted to the wall and these bars have coacting lugs 23 between which the leaves of each locking rod are arranged. On moving the bars in the direction of the arrows, respectively, seen in Fig. 12, the locking bars, which are normally held by their springs expanded, will be collapsed. This may be accomplished by a lever 24: which is pivoted to the two bars 21 and projects upwardly out of the case or cabinet. The normal p0- sition of the parts is that shown in Fig. 12, where the collapsed locking rods are expanded. rIherefore, since as shown the pivoted edges of the leaves are relatively upward, when a holder is inserted into the cabinet it will automatically become locked by the locking rod, which will be contracted irst into more or less folded condition by the restricted portion f of the key hole slot f g of the sheath a/ and then expand to the locking position shown in Fig. 14 as soon as the enlarged portion g of the key hole slot is occupied by it. To remove a holder from the case of the cabinet, the lever 24 is swung to the left in Fig. 12, thereby collapsing the leaves of the locking rod.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In combination, folding members pivoted together, and a sheath in which said 4members have sliding movement, the free ends of said members being toward the mouth of the sheath and one member having a rigid extension portion at its other end formed with lateral upstanding walls and affording asupport for said members in the sheath upon the other member clearing the sheath.

2. In combination, folding members pivoted together, and a sheath in which said members have sliding movement, the free ends of said members being toward the mouth of the sheath and one member having a rigid extension portion at its other end and formed with lateral upstanding walls extending into extension portion, the other member having pivotal support in said walls and said extension portion affording a support for said members in the sheath upon said other member clearing the sheath.

3. In combination, a sheet metal sheath member and a sheet metal holder member slidably arranged in the sheath member, one of said members having a longitudinal groove bent therein and a stop at one end of the groove and the other member having a bent-off projection reaching into said groove and adapted to abut the stop.

4;. In combination, a .folding holder member having upstanding portions formed with opposite eyes and a complementary holder member of fiat stiff sheet material having lateral projections rebent into trunnion form and journaled in said eyes.

5. In combination, a folding holder member having upstanding portions formed with opposite eyes and a complementary holder member of flat stiff sheet material having lateral projections at one end thereof and said end including the projections rebent, said rebent projections forming trunnions and being journaled in said eyes.

6. In combination, with a case and a stack of fiat holders arranged therein with their forward portions in stepped relation to each other and provided with indices, a slanting bar forming an abutment means for the backs of the holders and movable pivotally on a longitudinal axis into and out of locking engagement therewith.

7. In combination, a sheet-metal sheath member having opposite edges thereof rebent and forming guideways and having an elongated portion thereof between and parallel with said guideways bent downwardly in channel form and a stop at one end of the channel, and a holder member slidably arranged in the sheath member and having a projection reaching down into said channel and adapted to abut the stop, the rebent edges of said sheath member being spaced from each other whereby to accommodate between them the channel forming portion of another sheath member superimposed upon the first-named sheath member.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY BRAEN.

Vitnesses:

IVM. D. BELL, J. LEM SUWARD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingy the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

